Dr. Alon Ben Meir is a retired professor of International Relations, formerly at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs and Senior Fellow at the World Policy Institute. Ben-Meir is an expert on Middle East and West Balkan affairs, international negotiations, and conflict resolution. In the past two decades, Ben-Meir has been directly involved in various backchannel negotiations involving Israel and its neighboring countries and Turkey.
Ben-Meir is featured on a variety of television networks and also regularly briefs at the U.S. State Department for the International Visitors Program. He writes a weekly article that is syndicated globally.
Dr. Ben-Meir has authored twelve books related to Middle East and is currently working on two new books about Syria and Turkey. Ben-Meir holds a master’s degree in philosophy and a doctorate in international relations from Oxford University.
Ben-Meir is on Facebook at @ABenMeir, and Twitter at @AlonBenMeir.
Daniel Bar-Tal is Professor Emeritus at the School of Education, Tel Aviv University. His research interest is in political and social psychology, studying socio-psychological foundations of intractable conflicts and peace building. His most influential theoretical contribution is the development of a systematic and holistic conception of the dynamics of interethnic bloody and lasting conflicts: how they erupt, escalate and possibly de-escalate, are resolved peacefully and even reconciled. In addition, he is an authority on the Israeli-Arab/Palestinian conflict, suggesting a comprehensive interdisciplinary analysis of its foundation, continuation and maintenance. Recently he began to study and write about democracy and authoritarianism. He has published over twenty-five books and over two hundred and fifty articles and chapters in major social and political psychological journals, books and encyclopedias. He served as a President of the International Society of Political Psychology and received numerous awards for his academic achievements.
Dr. Emily Bashah is an author and licensed psychologist with a private practice in Scottsdale, Arizona. An expert witness in criminal, immigration and civil courts, she has worked on high-profile cases covering issues of domestic terrorism and capital offenses, and first-degree murder.
Dr. Bashah was awarded the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Policy Fellowship and served within the American Psychological Association’s Public Interest Government Relations Office in Washington, D.C. A frequent expert guest in media, Dr. Bashah clinically specializes in mental illness, personal and collective trauma, addiction and grief and loss, as well as family and relationship dynamics. She is the co-author with the Honorable Paul E. Johnson Jr. of Addictive Ideologies: Finding Meaning in Agency When Politics Fail You.
Dr. Sam Ben-Meir is a philosopher and educator whose work focuses on political philosophy, ethics, and contemporary political issues, serving as an assistant adjunct professor of philosophy at the City University of New York, College of Technology. His focus as Senior Fellow is on political philosophy. Dr. Sam Ben-Meir received his Ph.D. in philosophy from The New School in 2014.
Dr. Sam Ben-Meir’s website can be found here: https://www.samben-meir.com/.
Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir is founder and president of the High Atlas Foundation, a Moroccan-U.S. not-for-profit organization dedicated to sustainable development. He is also currently a Visiting Professor of International Studies at the University of Virginia. In Morocco, he was a Peace Corps Volunteer (1993-95), Associate Peace Corps Director (1998-99), a researcher at the American Institute of Maghrib Studies (2003), and a Professor at Al Akhawayn University at the School of Social Sciences and Humanities (2009-10). Dr. Ben-Meir holds a PhD in sociology from the University of New Mexico (2009), an MA in international development from Clark University (1997), and a BA in economics from New York University (1991). He is the author of 160 articles on sustainable development in Morocco, the Middle East, and the United States.
Jocelyne Cesari holds the Chair of Religion and Politics at the University of Birmingham (UK) and is Senior Fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University. Since 2018, she is the T. J. Dermot Dunphy Visiting Professor of Religion, Violence, and Peacebuilding at Harvard Divinity School. President elect of the European Academy of Religion (2018-19), her work on religion and politics has garnered recognition and awards: 2020 Distinguished Scholar of the religion section of the International Studies Association, Distinguished Fellow of the Carnegie Council for Ethics and International Affairs and the Royal Society for Arts in the United Kingdom. Her new book: We God’s Nations: Political Christianity, Islam and Hinduism in the World of Nations, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2022. Other publications: What is Political Islam? (Rienner, 2018, Book Award 2019 of the religion section of the ISA); Islam, Gender and Democracy in a Comparative Perspective (OUP, 2017), The Awakening of Muslim Democracy: Religion, Modernity and the State (CUP, 2014). She is the academic advisor of www.euro-islam.info
Frederic C. Hof, Bard College’s Diplomat-in-Residence, has had a distinguished career with the U.S. Army, Department of State, and the international consulting firm AALC, specializing in the Mideast region. He served as ambassador and special adviser for transition in Syria under President Obama and as special coordinator for regional affairs in the U.S. Department of State’s Office of the Special Envoy for Middle East Peace, where he conducted a backchannel peace mediation between Israel and Syria. A Vietnam veteran and graduate of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and Naval Postgraduate School, Hof also served as president and CEO of AALC (formerly Armitage Associates LC); as a U.S. Army Middle East Foreign Area Officer; as the U.S. Army attaché in Beirut; and as an officer in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. In 2001, he directed the Jerusalem field operations of the Sharm el-Sheikh Fact-Finding Committee, headed by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, and was lead drafter of the committee’s report. As an Army officer, he helped draft the Long Commission report investigating the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine headquarters at the Beirut airport. Both reports drew international praise for their fairness and integrity. Hof has written extensively on Lebanon, Syria, and Arab-Israeli issues. Publications include Galilee Divided: The Israel-Lebanon Frontier, 1916–1984 (1985); Line of Battle, Border of Peace? The Line of June 4, 1967 (1999); Beyond the Boundary: Lebanon, Israel, and the Challenge of Change (2000); Reaching for the Heights: The Inside Story of a Secret Attempt to Reach a Syrian-Israeli Peace (2022); opinion pieces in Foreign Policy and The Atlantic; and numerous articles on Jordan Valley water issues. Awards and honors include the Purple Heart, Department of State Superior Honor Award, Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Medal, and the Defense Superior Service Medal. He has been teaching at Bard since 2018.
Major General G G Dwivedi retired as an Assistant Chief Integrated Defence Staff (strategic) in 2009, after 38 years of distinguished service in the Indian Army (Infantry). A Veteran of the Bangladesh War-1971, he later commanded unit/formations in intense operational environment (decorated/commended five times); as well as held important staff assignments.
A graduate of National Defence Academy Kharkvasla, he holds M Sc, MBA, M Phil (double) in Defence & Strategic Studies from Madras University and a Ph D in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Besides Interpretership in Chinese from the School of Foreign Languages, he obtained multiple certifications from Harvard Kennedy School, USA. An alumnus of National Defence College, he has been faculty at Indian Military Academy Dehradun and Defence Services Staff College Wellington; served as Defence Attaché in China, Mongolia, and North Korea. He was instrumental in the formulation of numerous concept papers and doctrines as the Head of Doctrine/Strategic Branches.
As Professor of International Relations at Aligarh University, a central university, he was instrumental in establishing the new Faculty of International Studies. Currently he is visiting faculty at Indian Institute Management Jammu and Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management Delhi; additionally is a resource person for faculty development with Leading Universities.
He has authored/edited six books; published over 100 articles including book chapters on Geo Strategy, National Security and Leadership, and over 75 short pieces in the leading professional journals and national dailies. A member of renowned think tanks, he is invited speaker at premier ‘Centers of Excellence’ in India and abroad; appears regularly on national television as a panellist.
Kim Hurley has been the Communications and Development Director for Dr. Ben-Meir since 2012. She received her Master’s in International Affairs from The New School in 2011, concentrating in Media and Culture. Previously, Kim has done work on youth media and advocacy, and continues to focus on these topics as well as women’s and children’s rights and the role of art in conflict resolution, and is heavily involved in the arts in New York City.
Paul E. Johnson Jr., became the youngest mayor of Phoenix, Arizona, at 30 years old. As mayor, he and his administration were showcased in the New York Times, Forbes, and People, among other national media outlets, for efforts leading to the Bertelsmann Award honoring Phoenix as the “Best Run City in the World.”
Paul worked in real estate and founded several multi-million-dollar companies before moving on to the health care sector. In 2012, as CEO and co-founder of Redirect Health alongside Dr. David Berg and Dr. Janice Johnston has grown to become medically licensed and insured in all 50 U.S. states and has saved its members over $200 million in unnecessary spending.
Throughout his career, Mr. Johnson has attributed his professional success to those surrounding him. He believes that collaborating towards a worthy purpose is essential to unleashing the power of the human spirit. He sees himself as a supporter of those causes that support the individual including human rights, equal rights, civil rights, property rights, free markets, free elections, and free enterprise.
For his efforts, Mr. Johnson was named among the Top 16 People Most Likely to Watch in Arizona in 2016. He was also inducted into Marquis Who’s Who with the Humanitarian Award in 2021.
Currently Paul is chairman of the No Labels Party, and has authored several books including Addictive Ideologies and What’s Right With America. As an unwavering optimist he host of a show, called Optimistic American, whose goal is to create space in the news and media for a view of America as a great cause for good.
Robert Lapiner is Dean Emeritus of NYU’s School of Professional Studies (SPS), where he also served (now retired) as Professor of Higher Education Policy and the Humanities. His lifework has centered on expanding educational opportunities, fostering critical thinking, humanistic intellectual discovery and cross-cultural perspectives, and promoting international understanding and cooperation. A varied career over five decades integrated teaching and research, executive leadership roles in higher education, international non-profit organizations, and the U.S. diplomatic service.
Soon after earning his Ph.D. at Harvard and completing a few years of university teaching, he joined the U.S. Foreign Service in cultural, educational and press affairs, serving in The Netherlands, Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire) and France. In the DRC, he also served as one of two Human Rights Officers at the Embassy, helped establish a university-based research Center for the Study of Human Rights in Central Africa, and on a pro bono basis, was a visiting associate professor at the National University of Zaire in Lubumbashi. (For the impact of his efforts as a Foreign Service Information Officer in the DRC, he received a Meritorious Service Award for Public Diplomacy.)
In 1982, he entered the private NGO sector, to become Director for Europe (and eventually one of two world-wide Deputy Executive Directors) of the non-profit organization, the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE). He expanded the organization’s foothold to nine countries across Europe to provide diverse services to approximately 30,000 students, faculty, and college administrators annually and ad hoc advisory and project support to many of the Council’s nearly 300 member institutions and their nexus of global relationships. During all of his nearly 15 years in Europe and Africa, Robert worked closely in different capacities with the Fulbright programs in seven countries—including eight years as a board member of the binational Franco-American Commission for Educational Exchange. (He was also a founding/charter member of EAIE–the European Association for International Education.)
In 1990, he took on a new university career at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), becoming Dean of UCLA Continuing Education and University Extension, comprising the largest single academic entity in the University of California system by headcount (enrolling about 35,000 individual adult learners annually). Through programs he initiated, Extension became the largest vector for international students at UCLA. His efforts within a number of regional, state, national, and international organizations fostered widely-adopted academic standards and methodologies for rigorous post-baccalaureate study, including what were then ground-breaking efforts to support faculty to incorporate the teaching of professional ethics, multicultural sensitivity, and comparative global perspectives across all curricula. While at UCLA, he also served as an associate faculty member of the UCLA Center for Development Education—to facilitate intra-campus collaboration to bring faculty know-how to government-and-foundation-funded public service projects in the developing world.
In 2005, Robert started to become a New Yorker, when he was appointed professor of Higher Education and the Humanities at the NYU School of Professional Studies (SPS), and its dean until 2011. He is credited for transformational strengthening of the academic identity of SPS, spearheading its standing today as one of the university’s five largest–and arguably the single-most inclusive–among the 18 schools and colleges that make up NYU’s global network. Noteworthy achievements included focused internationalization of the school’s curricula–and its student body–in all fields, timely new undergraduate and master’s programs, and (through support from generous donor-advocates) building SPS’s first-ever wholly dedicated campus classroom and administrative home.
From that record, in 2011, he took on a two-year assignment as university-wide Associate Vice Chancellor for Global Continuing Education. In 2013, fulfilling a personal commitment to return to the classroom, he resumed full-time teaching and service on the faculty of SPS. He was later selected as school Senator to the University Senate, where he participated in and also led a number of NYU-wide committees until his retirement in 2021.
Over the years, in Europe, California, and New York, until retirement, he had been active on many not-for-profit boards and the governing bodies of national and international academic associations. He remains on the board of One To World, a New York-based (institutional) membership organization whose mission is to facilitate inter-cultural understanding and cooperation in the Fulbright tradition among international students and scholars and with local communities in the tri-state area.
Professor Emeritus, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at Hebrew University, Jerusalem. BA & MA, Hebrew University. Ph.D. Oxford University (1966) in Islam & Middle East.
Lecturer and professor at Hebrew University from 1968-2003; visiting professor or fellow at Harvard University, Columbia University, New York University, Beijing University, and more; Brookings Institute, United States Institute for Peace, Baker Institute, NIAS, and more.
Director, Department of Islamic and Middle East studies; Institute of Asian and African Studies, The Truman Institute at Hebrew University.
Published 24 books and 86 articles on various issues concerning Arab-Israeli, and Muslim-Jewish relations; the Palestinian problem; Syrian history and politics; ethnic and religious communities; etc. Adviser on Arab and Middle East affairs to several Israeli prime ministers and defense ministers.
Mr. Lulzim Peci (1966) holds a PhD in Political Science from the South East European University (North Macedonia), an M.A. in International Relations from the University Institute Ortega y Gasset (Spain) and B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Prishtina (Kosovo). He is the principal founder and the Executive Director of the Kosovar Institute for Policy Research and Development (KIPRED), and the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Kosovo Open Society Foundation (KFOS).
Mr. Peci in the past used to serve as Ambassador of Kosovo in Stockholm (2009-2013), as a Member of the Board of Directors of the American University in Kosovo (2007 – 2009), Visiting Lecturer at the Geneva Centre for Security Policies (GCSP), Lecturer of National and International Security at the University of Prizren (2007- 2008), Executive Director of the Kosovar Civil Society Foundation (1999-2003), and as a Researcher at the Kosovo Center for International Studies (KCIS) / Foreign Policy Team of the late Kosovo’s President, Dr. Ibrahim Rugova (1995-1998).
Mr. Peci’s research interests are focused on foreign and security policies, inter-ethnic relations and political parties. He has published more than 70 policy and scientific papers and articles in Kosovo, Great Britain, Netherlands, Greece, Switzerland, Singapore, Austria and Germany.
Mr. Peci can be found on Facebook at @Lulzim.Peci, and Twitter at @LulzimPeci
Dr. Wioletta Rebecka is a psychologist, psychoanalyst, and psychotraumatologist. An alumna of the University of Warsaw and Touro University in Los Angeles, where she earned her Doctorate in Psychology, Dr. Rebecka specializes in trauma related to war, sexual violence, and intergenerational harm. She is the author of Rape: A History of Shame – Diary of the Survivors (2021), with a Polish edition released in 2024. She developed the SERS method for trauma stabilization and recovery, and conceptualized the War Rape Survivors Syndrome (WRSS) framework, a pioneering model addressing the long-term impacts of sexual violence in armed conflict. She is based in NYC.
Igballe Rogova is an internationally renowned women’s rights advocate. In 1989, she co-founded the first women’s organization in Kosovo, Motrat Qiriazi, which she later directed. The organization focused on educating rural women, community development, and supported networking among activists. She was a recipient of the Women of the Year Award from the International Network of Women’s Organizations and the Lydia Sklevicky Prize for her innovative work with women’s groups, awarded by Mamacash.
In 2000, she co-founded the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN), where she continues to serve as Executive Director. KWN supports, protects, and promotes women’s rights and interests throughout Kosovo. An early advocate for the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in Kosovo, immediately after the Resolution’s passage, Igballe often challenged the approach of UN missions and development initiatives in her region. She has worked tirelessly to document and share these stories with high-ranking officials and women’s rights activists in other countries, so they may learn from the mistakes made in Kosovo (e.g., through the widely read 1325 Facts & Fables).
She was a motor behind the the Women’s Peace Coalition (WPC), founded in 2006, and the Regional Women’s Lobby for Peace, Security and Justice in South East Europe (RWL), which joins women leaders from politics and civil society in advocating for peace and justice in the region. WPC and RWL have been the only voices bringing women’s priorities and political preferences into regional peace-making processes.
In 2014-2015, she was a member of the High-level Advisory Group for the UN Global Study on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. She also served on the NATO Civil Society Advisory Panel on Women, Peace and Security.
Cemre Ulker is the Representative of the Journalists and Writers Foundation (JWF) to the United Nations Department of Global Communications. Ms. Ulker leads JWF’s global initiatives and intellectual forums to promote the culture of peace, human rights, and sustainable development. She is a human rights expert dedicated to the gender-mainstreaming of the Sustainable Development Goals with a particular focus on democratic governance, rule of law and global partnerships. Ms. Ulker also provides workshops and capacity-building programs on action-oriented policy suggestions advocating for press freedom, protection of human rights defenders, facilitating global solidarity movements, and implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1325: Women, Peace, and Security Agenda.
Ms. Ulker was a freelance contributor at Kronos News covering Turkey’s human rights agenda and foreign policy projections. She served as a Faculty Member at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)’s Global Diplomacy Initiative giving lectures on the “Intersectionality of Press Freedom and Human Rights: Violence Against Women Human Rights Defenders”. She recently joined the World Liberty Congress as a Member of the Middle East regional council. Recipient of the Her Hero Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the New York City Bar Association in 2024, Ms. Ulker completed her Master’s Degree in Human Rights at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.
Arbana Xharra is an internationally recognized investigative journalist and leading expert on religious radicalization, with a focus on Islamist extremism and Turkey’s political Islam agenda in the Balkans and the European Union. Since 2012, her reports have exposed extremist networks operating in Southeastern Europe, earning her recognition in major international media outlets and academic journals, including SAIS – Johns Hopkins.
She currently serves as an investigative journalist at the Alon Ben-Meir Institute, where she continues her in-depth research and reporting on authoritarian influence, religious extremism, and regional instability.
In 2015, Xharra was honored with the International Women of Courage Award by the U.S. State Department for her courageous reporting. Her work has also been featured across global television networks, where she is often called upon to provide expert commentary on religious freedom and human rights.
After surviving a brutal attack in Kosovo in 2017 in retaliation for her investigations, Arbana was granted asylum in the United States. From exile, she continues her mission, writing, advocating, and developing communication strategies for U.S.-based think tanks and human rights organizations. Her voice remains a powerful force for truth, transparency, and the empowerment of women in conflict and post-conflict regions.
Dr. Ahmed Y. Zohny returned to academia after serving in the United States Department of State/USAID (stationed in Cairo, Egypt — as a project manager), and the World Bank (as an educational Adviser to the World Bank’s Institute). He is an economic, social, and political development expert of the Middle East, North Africa, and the Islamic World. He was invited to serve as an analyst by major U.S. media networks on events in Egypt and the Middle East and is fluent in both Arabic and English.
Dr. Zohny recently published two books: Donald Trump’s Digital Diplomacy And Its Impact On US Foreign Policy Toward The Middle East (April 18, 2023), published by Lexington Books, Lanham, Boulder, New York, London, and Barack Obama and The Arab Spring, A successful Balancing Act of Foreign Policy and Diplomacy (July 2021), published by Lexington Books, Lanham, Boulder, New York, London. His academic research has been published in peer reviewed journals, and the proceedings of professional association conferences such as: the Cultural and Religious Studies, Orient Journal (the German Journal for Politics and Economics of the Middle East), Berlin, Germany, The Arab Law Quarterly, London, England, Ethics and Critical Thinking Journal, Texas, Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, Northeastern Political Science Association, Boston, MA, Congress of Political Economists, Paris, France, and the World Jurist Association, Vienna, Austria, and Dublin, Ireland, The Middle East Dialogue, Washington DC, the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa(ASMEA), Washington DC, and the International Studies Association (ISA), Storrs, Connecticut.
Dr. Zohny earned his Ph.D. in Public and International Affairs (with double concentrations in International Security Studies & Economic and Social Development of the Middle East and North Africa), from the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh, PA (where his dissertation was nominated for the NASPAA Annual Award). He holds an LL.M degree from Washington College of Law, the American University in Washington, DC (where he served on the American University International Law Review). He also holds an MA degree in Political Science from Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania, and a law degree (LL.B), from the Faculty of Law, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt. He is licensed by the Washington D.C. Court of Appeals as a Special Legal Consultant on Egypt and the Arab countries.